The present invention generally relates to a nanowire optoelectric switching structure and method. More particularly, the invention provides a device and method for switching a signal using a nanowire via electro-optic means. Merely by way of example, the invention is applied to switching electrical signals of a switching device. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much wider range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to other types of switching devices, such as chemical detectors, sensors, MEMS, MOEMS, biostructures, photodetectors, humidity sensors, and the like.
Through the years, many techniques have been developed to carry signals through a medium. For example, electrical wires carry power from one location to another for the purpose of lighting, heating, and operating complex equipment, among other devices. Electrical wires are often lengths of copper or other conductive material such as aluminum or alloys and the like. Such electrical wires have also been used in devices for carrying electrical signals. As merely an example, discrete devices such as relays and smaller devices including solid state transistors have been used to switch electrical signals. As time progressed, such devices became smaller and smaller to switch more and more signals in a smaller given area. Robert N. Noyce invented what we understand as the “integrated circuit,” which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,877, titled Semiconductor Device-And-Lead Structure, filed Jul. 30, 1959, and issued Apr. 25, 1961 (herein the “Noyce patent”). The Noyce patent generally describes a technique for interconnecting two contact regions for manufacturing an integrated circuit. The Noyce patent was one of the many techniques which has been developed for making semiconductor devices more integrated and closely packed such that more and more transistors can be designed in a given area. The Noyce patent, however, is limited to conventional ways of manufacturing and operating semiconductor integrated circuits.
Although such integrated circuits have been successful, industry has explored other ways and materials to carry signals in smaller devices. As merely an example, nanowires have been developed to carry electrical signals. Jae-Yong Yu, et al., “Silicon Nanowires: Preparation, Device Fabrication, and Transport Properties,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2000, 104, 11864-11870, generally describes techniques and properties of such nanowires. Nanowires are often thin strands of conductive or semiconductive materials. Such strands often have a characteristic diameter in the nanometer range to a few hundred nanometers. A characteristic length of such strands ranges from about—1 micrometer_and greater. Another example illustrating a way to use such nanowire as a device has been described in Michael H. Huang, et al., “Room-Temperature Ultraviolet Nanowire Nanolasers,” SCIENCE, Vol. 292, 8 Jun. 2001 (herein “Huang, et al.”). Huang, et al. generally relates to a room-temperature, ultraviolet lasing in semiconductor nanowire arrays. Although there has been some work in manufacturing and using nanowires, such work has been limited.
From the above, it is seen that an improved way of manufacturing and using nanowires is highly desirable.